A railroad network includes a network of tracks that is used by a large number of rail vehicles. The operation of rail vehicles can be monitored by a remote off-board controller (also sometimes referred to as the “back office”). The off-board controller monitors the operation of rail vehicles using large amounts of data received from each rail vehicle and from stationary wayside units positioned at fixed locations throughout the railroad network. The ability to analyze and interpret these large amounts of data has the potential to be of great value in monitoring the condition of the rail vehicles.
Usually rail vehicles have multiple assets, for example, a train may have locomotive and non-locomotive vehicles linked together as one. Each asset includes multiple components that are susceptible to wear and breakdown resulting from everyday use. The rail vehicles and wayside unit are typically equipped with sensors for measuring various operating conditions. However, it is difficult to correlate the large amounts of retrieved data with the identity of the corresponding assets. Therefore, many prior systems only consider abnormal conditions where out-of-range operating values are detected.
One system that attempts to facilitate information use from wayside units is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,245,983 (the '983 patent) that issued to Gilbertson, on Aug. 21, 2012. The '983 patent discloses a system for communicating information between a wayside unit and an on-board train operator. The '983 patent aims to minimize radio congestion by providing a wayside system and an onboard communication device configured to transmit/receive wayside data via a dispatch voice channel.
Although the system of the '983 patent may help the train operator to utilize the data from the wayside unit, it may be limited. Specifically, the system of the '983 patent may be effective in a situation where the hack office is overloaded with data and not capable of informing an individual train with relevant data. However, large amounts of data may still be lost. As a result, potential issues can be overlooked and the option of taking preemptive actions diminishes.
The disclosed visual diagnostic system is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.